Thursday, March 27, 2014

there's something better, InsyaAllah

It was your Wan's birthday recently and I decided to give her a gift I think people don't give these days. An album filled with printed photos! It was given out of a sense of guilt too cuz I think we have owed her a lot of pictures in the past years which have been stored in a CD somewhere and forgotten.. This is clearly an era where snapping photos on your phone is so habitual you don't realise that you've already stored thousands of photos in the process. But most pictures we gave Wan was the one we took with a real camera :) It's a shame photos on your phone don't turn up nice when you print them. There's SOooo many photos of you on my phone dear ;) Anyway, I recommend people to do this. The gift actually makes a nice conversation starter and gets you going down memory lane.. A lane that you have also kept in one part of your memory or may even have unintentionally forgotten.

Bottom line is all the pictures were happy pictures. Don't we all take pictures when we're happy? Looking back at pictures dated 10 years ago remind you that at that time, days were sunny, smiles were bright, bonds were tight, everyone looked healthy, skinny (?).. etc. That last part may sting a little but it gives you hope perhaps that you can still look that way :D

But my dear, life isn't all that's contained in a happy picture. Life is a series of many moments, good, bad, happy, sad. When you're big enough to read this I'm sure you'd already have experienced those moments. As much as I don't want you to get hurt or feel sad, it will be something that you will have to feel. Everyone goes through it. I did too. And probably will again in the future.

I could rant about what kinds of sadness you could possibly feel but experience is the best teacher. Again, it's not that I'd wish this on you but suffice to say it's inevitable.

If you ever feel bad or sad, cry if you must but also remain strong.. One way is to know that Allah is the almighty God who if you keep in your heart, will always be there for you. So always remember Allah, pray and ask for good things. Ask to have a strong heart to endure all obstacles. Ask to be thankful for everything. Know that not everyone you meet will be nice to you, talk to you nicely, but be nice anyway and talk nice to them. Think good of people and of situations and always know that things happen for a reason.

My dear Khadeeja, I hope I'll be able to be by your side through your good times and your bad times. I want to be there. But I know you will have to face some of those times on your own and so may this post be something you can come back to if you need a little boost when something gets you down. Mama isn't really a master of words and so I'd like to quote a bit from a favourite writer of mine, Yasmin Mogahed:

`Sometimes Allah doesn't give you what you ask for when He wants to give you something more. Sometimes He doesn't give you right away because He knows there's something better. Or so you can keep asking. Because it is in the process of begging, the process of crying to Allah, that you are elevated and brought nearer. It is in the process of asking that you are brought to the foot of his throne.'

On that note, I don't just dedicate this post to you my dear, but also to everyone out there who is going through a rough time. I dedicate it to the families and friends of flight MH370 who I know are going through a difficult time unimaginable to me.. I pray Allah gives you strength and elevate you to be nearer to Him..